Barkley reminisces on AU recruitment with Sonny Smith

Auburn didn’t travel to Leeds High School to see Charles Barkley.

In 1980, legendary Auburn hoops head coach Sonny Smith sent the late Herbert Greene to scout and recruit Travis Abernathy, an athletic swing man who had been receiving college offers across the country since he was a freshman. He also happened to be Charles Barkley’s next-door neighbor.

“Travis was a hell of a player,” Barkley said this week on college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman’s podcast. “... I had grown from 5-10 to 6-4 in a year, so I had never gotten a letter until I was a senior.”

But Greene — for whom the court at Columbus State is named after he would go on to coach 25 years there — quickly had his attention diverted during the game, and his dispatch back to Smith wasn’t what the head coach had expected.

“Charles just tore somebody alive,” Smith said on Goodman’s podcast. “And [Green] changed on Abernathy and went to Charles and spent the rest of his time recruiting Charles.”

Barkley and Smith spent a large portion of their time on Goodman’s podcast reminiscing on their time as a tandem on the Plains. At the start of his recruitment, Barkley said, he had only received a couple letters from various junior colleges. Smith and Auburn became interested, but it wasn’t until Barkley had a field day against one of the best big men in the country that the future 11-time NBA All-Star and 1993 NBA MVP started to garner national attention.

Barkley knew playing against Bobby Lee Hurt would be his shot. He and Abernathy’s Leeds team was the top-ranked 3A team in the state, while Hurt's squad was No. 1 in 4A. Lee was a 6-foot-11 center and was easily the most sought-after player in the state.

Barkley had 26 points and 20 rebounds that night.

And Smith didn’t just send an assistant to that one. Sonny was courtside.

“I knew right there he was going to be something,” Smith said.

As Barkley’s recruitment narrowed down, staying in state was the only option. He said his family played a massive role in his decision, and he wasn’t ashamed to involve them.

It came down to UAB, Alabama and Auburn. Gene Bartow’s Blazers were “25 minutes from our house,” Barkley said. Tuscaloosa was an hour. Auburn was two hours. And Barkley knew his mother and grandmother wanted to attend every one of his home games in college.

“I’m trying to decide, and UAB made it to the Sweet Sixteen that year,” Barkley said. “They had everybody coming back. I look at Alabama, they went to the Sweet Sixteen, and they signed Ennis Whatley, the No. 1 point guard in the country from Birmingham, and Bobby Lee. Then I go down to Auburn.

“I’m looking around — I don’t even remember what game I went to — it was a pretty good game, and I remember thinking, ‘I think I can play with these guys.’ I remember coming home and telling my mother and grandmother, ‘Hey, I know it’s the farthest school away, but the most important thing is I want an opportunity to play. So I’m going to go to Auburn.’ And my grandmother said, ‘Charles, it’s your decision. We don’t mind driving two hours.’ Because my grandmother is probably the most important person in my life. … I was closed after that.”

Barkley and Smith quickly developed a close bond when the bruising big man arrived on campus — even though Barkley admitted he got so home sick when he first got to Auburn that he would drive home every chance Smith gave him.

Smith and his wife, Jan, worked to cure that home sickness as best they could. Barkley said Smith had dinners at his house as many times as the players wanted. And a young Barkley quickly latched onto his Auburn family away from his family in Leeds.

“Sonny has the greatest wife ever,” Barkley said. “… Mrs. Smith treated us all like sons. It was so awesome to have a mother figure close to you.”

Sonny Smith said the embodiment of Jan Smith and Barkley’s relationship came later on in Barkley’s Auburn career, when Jan had a “devastating stroke” at age 47.

“The first person at the hospital when they put her in a bed was Charles,” Sonny Smith said.

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Listen to the full interview with Sonny Smith and Barkley on Goodman's podcast HERE.